How is SIP return calculated?

Each instalment grows for the number of months remaining after it is paid, so the total is FV = P x [((1 + r)^n - 1) / r] x (1 + r) for a level instalment. This page divides the annual return by twelve to get the monthly rate and simulates month by month, which also handles an annual step-up that the formula cannot express.

How much should I invest in SIP every month?

That depends on your goal and how long you have, which is what the goal mode is for: enter the target and the horizon and it solves the instalment. As a sanity check, reaching ₹1 crore in fifteen years at an assumed 12% needs roughly ₹19,819 a month. This is arithmetic, not advice about what you can afford.

How much can a ₹5,000 SIP become in 10 years?

At an assumed 12% a year, ₹5,000 a month for ten years projects to about ₹11,61,695, of which ₹6,00,000 is your own contribution. At 8% the same plan projects to about ₹9,20,828. The gap between those two figures is a good illustration of how much rests on the assumed rate.

How much SIP is required for ₹1 crore?

At an assumed 12% return, roughly ₹19,819 a month for fifteen years, or about ₹10,009 a month for twenty years. Starting a 10% annual step-up instead lets you begin at about ₹11,516 a month over fifteen years. Longer horizons reduce the required instalment far more than higher assumed returns do.

What is a step-up SIP?

A step-up SIP increases the instalment by a fixed percentage each year, so it grows roughly in line with income. A 10% step-up turns ₹10,000 into ₹11,000 in year two and ₹12,100 in year three. You can switch it on in the advanced options and compare it against a level instalment.

Does a step-up SIP increase returns?

It does not change the rate of return at all. It increases how much you invest, and the extra money invested earlier has longer to compound, so the final projection is much larger. The comparison on this page deliberately shows the extra amount paid in beside the extra projected wealth, because the two are easy to confuse.

How does inflation affect SIP returns?

Inflation does not change the projected balance; it changes what that balance buys. The adjusted figure divides the future value by (1 + inflation)^years. At 6% inflation, ₹1.98 crore in twenty years has roughly the purchasing power of ₹62 lakh today, which is the more useful number to plan a real goal against.

Are SIP returns guaranteed?

No. A SIP is a way of investing, not a product with a fixed rate. The money goes into a market-linked investment whose value rises and falls, and returns can be negative over any given period. Every figure on this page is a projection from your own assumption, not a promise.

What return should I enter in a SIP calculator?

Something you could defend rather than something that makes the chart look good. Indian equity index returns have run around 11-12% a year over long periods before tax, debt funds considerably lower, and any single decade can differ sharply. Try the scenario comparison at several rates instead of committing to one.

Can I stop or change a SIP?

Yes. SIPs in open-ended mutual funds can normally be paused, increased, reduced or stopped without a penalty, though an exit load may apply to units sold within a set period. This calculator assumes every instalment is paid on schedule, so it does not model a pause or an early stop.

Why do different SIP calculators show slightly different numbers?

Usually one of two reasons. Some treat the instalment as paid at the end of the month rather than the start, which lowers the result slightly. Others convert the annual rate differently — dividing by twelve, as this page does, rather than taking the twelfth root. Neither is wrong, but they do not produce identical figures.

FINANCE TOOL

SIP Calculator

Plan your SIP and understand what your money could become.

Projected value: ₹99.91 L
Total invested: ₹24 L
Estimated returns: ₹75.91 L

Your plan

What will my SIP grow to?

What do you want to work out?

Grow my SIP I have a goal When will I get there

Monthly investment₹10,000

For how long20 years

years

Expected annual return12% a year

An assumption you choose, not a guaranteed rate.

Advanced options

Increase my SIP every year

Annual step-up0% a year

Raises the instalment each year. It does not change the return.

Inflation6% a year

Used only to restate the result in today's money.

SIP frequency

Monthly Quarterly Yearly

Changes when instalments arrive. Growth is applied monthly either way.

A 12% annual return is treated as a nominal rate and divided by twelve, which compounds to an effective 12.68% a year.

Show today's value

Total invested: ₹24,00,000
Estimated returns: ₹75,91,479
Projected future value: ₹99,91,479
Worth in today's money: ₹31,15,390

How it could grow

₹10,000 a month · 20 years · 12% assumed

Hover the chart, or focus it and use the arrow keys, to read any year.

Estimated value
Total invested
In today's money

Where the money comes from

Projected value

₹99.91 L

Total invested₹24,00,000 24%
Estimated returns₹75,91,479 76%

24% of your projected corpus comes from your contributions. 76% comes from estimated investment returns.

What it would be worth today

Future value
₹99,91,479
The projected balance after 20 years
Today's purchasing power
₹31,15,390
The same amount at 6% inflation

The future value is the projected amount at the end of the investment period. Today's value estimates what that amount would be worth after accounting for inflation. Both rest on assumptions you entered; neither is a prediction.

Regular SIP against a step-up SIP

Raising the instalment every year changes what you pay in, not the return.

Set an annual step-up above to compare a rising instalment against a flat one.

How sensitive is my result?

The same plan under three assumed returns you can change.

Conservative return

Moderate return

Higher return

Scenario	Assumed return	Projected value
Conservative	8%	₹59,29,472
Moderate	10%	₹76,56,969
Higher	12%	₹99,91,479

Illustrative scenarios based on different assumed annual returns. These are not forecasts, and none of them is more likely than another.

What if I invest more?

The same 20 years at a larger instalment.

What if I invest for longer?

The same instalment held for longer.

SIP growth timeline

Show the year-by-year breakdown (20 years)

Year	Annual contribution	Cumulative investment	Estimated returns	Projected value	In today's money
1	₹1,20,000	₹1,20,000	₹8,093	₹1,28,093	₹1,20,843
2	₹1,20,000	₹2,40,000	₹32,432	₹2,72,432	₹2,42,464
3	₹1,20,000	₹3,60,000	₹75,076	₹4,35,076	₹3,65,299
4	₹1,20,000	₹4,80,000	₹1,38,348	₹6,18,348	₹4,89,790
5	₹1,20,000	₹6,00,000	₹2,24,864	₹8,24,864	₹6,16,386
6	₹1,20,000	₹7,20,000	₹3,37,570	₹10,57,570	₹7,45,545
7	₹1,20,000	₹8,40,000	₹4,79,790	₹13,19,790	₹8,77,736
8	₹1,20,000	₹9,60,000	₹6,55,266	₹16,15,266	₹10,13,438
9	₹1,20,000	₹10,80,000	₹8,68,215	₹19,48,215	₹11,53,146
10	₹1,20,000	₹12,00,000	₹11,23,391	₹23,23,391	₹12,97,369
11	₹1,20,000	₹13,20,000	₹14,26,148	₹27,46,148	₹14,46,637
12	₹1,20,000	₹14,40,000	₹17,82,522	₹32,22,522	₹16,01,495
13	₹1,20,000	₹15,60,000	₹21,99,311	₹37,59,311	₹17,62,512
14	₹1,20,000	₹16,80,000	₹26,84,180	₹43,64,180	₹19,30,281
15	₹1,20,000	₹18,00,000	₹32,45,760	₹50,45,760	₹21,05,419
16	₹1,20,000	₹19,20,000	₹38,93,782	₹58,13,782	₹22,88,574
17	₹1,20,000	₹20,40,000	₹46,39,208	₹66,79,208	₹24,80,420
18	₹1,20,000	₹21,60,000	₹54,94,392	₹76,54,392	₹26,81,669
19	₹1,20,000	₹22,80,000	₹64,73,254	₹87,53,254	₹28,93,064
20	₹1,20,000	₹24,00,000	₹75,91,479	₹99,91,479	₹31,15,390

What this tool does and does not tell you

A SIP is a method, not a product
A SIP is simply the habit of investing a fixed amount at a fixed interval. It does not generate a return of its own. What you actually earn depends entirely on the mutual fund or other investment the money goes into.
Projected returns are not guaranteed
Projected returns are estimates based on the assumptions you provide. Market-linked returns vary year to year and can be negative. Actual returns may be higher or lower, and are not guaranteed.
The figures are before tax and charges
Capital gains tax, the fund expense ratio and any exit load all reduce what you keep. They vary by scheme and holding period, so they are not modelled here.

These calculations are illustrative estimates based on the assumptions you enter. Mutual fund returns are market-linked and actual returns may vary.

What is a SIP and how does this calculator work?

A Systematic Investment Plan is an arrangement to invest a fixed amount at a fixed interval, usually monthly, into a mutual fund. Each instalment buys units at whatever the price is that day, so you accumulate more units when prices are low and fewer when they are high. That is the whole mechanism: it spreads your entry across time instead of committing everything at one price.

This calculator takes your instalment, how long you plan to keep it running and the annual return you want to assume, then simulates the plan one month at a time. Each instalment is added at the start of the month and the balance grows for that month before the next instalment arrives. The result separates the money you paid in from the growth the assumption produced.

Nothing here is fetched from a live fund. The assumed return is yours to choose, which is the honest way to do it — no calculator knows what any fund will return.

The SIP formula and the monthly rate this page uses

For a level instalment the future value is FV = P x [((1 + r)^n - 1) / r] x (1 + r), where P is the instalment, r the monthly rate and n the number of instalments. The trailing (1 + r) is there because the instalment is paid at the start of the month rather than the end.

The monthly rate is the annual return divided by twelve. A 12% assumption becomes 1% a month. This is the nominal convention Indian fund houses and calculators use, which is why a figure from this page can be checked against theirs. Dividing by twelve rather than taking the twelfth root means 12% entered here compounds to an effective 12.68% over a year, and the page says so rather than hiding it.

Worked example: ₹5,000 a month for ten years at 12% projects to ₹11,61,695, of which ₹6,00,000 is money you paid in. Raise the instalment to ₹10,000 and run it for twenty years and the projection is ₹99,91,479 against ₹24,00,000 invested. The longer run does far more work than the larger instalment.

How a step-up SIP works

A step-up SIP raises the instalment by a set percentage every year, which roughly tracks how a salary moves. A 10% step-up on ₹10,000 means ₹11,000 a month in year two, ₹12,100 in year three and so on. The step-up changes what you pay in; it does not change the return.

The effect is larger than most people expect. ₹10,000 a month for twenty years at 12% projects to ₹99.91 lakh. The same starting instalment with a 10% annual step-up projects to ₹1.98 crore — roughly double, because each year's larger instalment still has many years left to grow.

The trade-off is real and worth stating: you pay in considerably more over the period. The comparison on this page shows both the extra invested and the extra projected wealth, so the increase is judged on what it costs as well as what it might return.

Working backwards from a goal

The goal mode solves the instalment instead of the outcome. Because there is no opening lump sum, the projection is directly proportional to the instalment, so the required amount can be solved exactly rather than guessed at.

To target ₹1 crore in fifteen years at an assumed 12%, the required instalment is about ₹19,819 a month. With a 10% annual step-up you could start at roughly ₹11,516 a month instead, though you would be paying in a rising amount every year thereafter.

If you name a goal in today's money, switch on the option to inflate it. ₹1 crore fifteen years from now does not buy what ₹1 crore buys today, and planning against the un-inflated number quietly understates what you need.

What your corpus is worth in today's money

The future value is the projected amount at the end of the investment period. The inflation-adjusted figure restates that same amount in today's purchasing power, by dividing it by (1 + inflation)^years.

At 6% inflation, ₹1.98 crore twenty years from now has roughly the purchasing power of ₹62 lakh today. Neither number is wrong — they answer different questions. The future value tells you what will be in the account; the adjusted figure tells you what it will buy.

Inflation is an assumption exactly like the return is. The default here is editable, and the adjustment does not deduct tax, fund charges or anything else.

SIP versus lumpsum, and what this does not model

A lumpsum invests everything at one price on one day; a SIP spreads entry across many prices. Over a long rising period a lumpsum invested early usually finishes ahead, simply because more money was invested for longer. A SIP is easier to sustain out of income and removes the need to pick a moment to enter. The two answer different constraints rather than competing on returns alone.

This model assumes a constant return, every instalment paid on time, all growth left invested and nothing withdrawn. Real returns arrive unevenly and include falls. It does not model capital gains tax, expense ratios, exit loads, missed instalments or a fund changing its strategy.

Treat the scenario comparison as the honest form of the answer: the same plan under several assumed returns, showing how much the result depends on a number nobody can promise.

Frequently asked questions

It is a tool that projects what a series of fixed investments could grow into, based on an annual return you assume. It works out the future value, how much of that is money you paid in and how much is projected growth. It does not predict a fund's performance — it arithmetic-checks the assumption you give it.

Compound Interest Calculator — Model a one-time investment alongside monthly contributions, or compare compounding frequencies.
Home Loan Calculator — Weigh a long-running SIP against the cost of a home loan running over the same years.
Personal Loan Calculator — Check what an EMI costs before committing income that could go into a SIP instead.